Lumsden and Area Aquatic Facility Proposal

Best Practices and Trends in Aquatic Services Delivery
While the items presented below may be reflected to various degrees in a new aquatic centre in
Lumsden, they do present a snapshot that reflects both expectations of the public when it comes to
these types of facilities as well as aquatic facility planning. This section identifies preliminary concepts.
Change Room Design
Change rooms will continue to transform as societal norms change. These changes reflect fiscal realities.
Some efficiencies can be gained through staffing costs as a single gender can monitor all change facilities
(if structured that way). Others can be considered revenue generation.
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Accessibility: some of this can be captured in response to pertinent construction codes, such as ADA
Standards for AccessibleDesign, the Canadian Standards Association and the National Building Code
of Canada. This can refer to ensuring that people of all abilities can fully use the different elements
of the change rooms. These points relate to facility design too.
Universal only, gender neutral: there are several ways to build this type of change room. With this
concept there are not separate male and female change rooms. Rather, there is a large open room
with lockers for storage. Often these spaces are visible in the pool, affecting locker safety. There are
separate and private areas to accommodate actual changing and showering. This solution reflects
the changing nature of gender in our society too.
Hands free: health concerns abound, and hands-free design means there are fewer surfaces
requiring people to touch them. This can be reflected in entrances and exits (maybe there are no
doors) and touchless sinks, faucets, and dryers.
Pool Tanks
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Temperatures: depending on the types of use for a pool, different temperatures are preferred. For
tanks used for high activity (think swim clubs, etc.) a cooler pool is preferable. However, pools that
serve a more leisure focus, a warmer temperature is preferred. It is common to have cool, warm and
hot tanks for various uses.
Accessibility: this is how people access the tanks. Tanks used to be only rectangular, with entry
ladders or vertical stairs. Now, rectangular tank access is no longer limited to ladders or vertical
steps. Instead, there are gradual steps in tanks or ramps that go into tanks. This ensures a broader
community can easily access the tanks, including the young and old and those with mobility
challenges.
Water Features
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Skill development: these are often associated with training and clubs. These components can vary
but are important in developing certain skills. Elements can simply be deep water. To facilitate
synchronized swimming for example (and other sports) deep water is needed. Starting blocks,
underwater sound, timing pads, and so on are elements that hasten skill development.
Resistant training (moving water): water can be therapeutic. More specifically, using moving water
to build strength and endurance is becoming more mainstream in public facilities. While these river
types of amenities are generally viewed as leisure elements, they also serve a health & fitness role.
Person powered play: as components of leisure services, these types blend the fun and whimsical
components of water play and add the person control element. These become more interactive
when people must power and/or aim them. These might be water spray or other types of splash
elements.
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